Sonia Furstenau

Not maybe a few more, but still more.

Emily Loewen, I think, did better in the debate and got, I think, better reviews in the debate than her predecessor, Sonia Furstenau did in 2024.

Um, and she could attract some of those soft NDP voters out there.

Now, some of that'll be offset by some of the OneBC candidates who, you know, these people are not gonna win the seats, but they're gonna take votes from one side of the ledger or the other, and I think there's gonna be a fair amount of vote splitting on both sides, uh, c- on October 24th.

Thank, thank you, Mike, uh, I mean, uh, sorry, Neil, on that.

And, um, Sonia and I send our, our love and our, our prayers and our support to you and, and your family, uh, during this time.

And, uh, yeah, you know, we're, uh, we're rooting for the, for the best results and, you know, for recovery and there, all that, all that stuff, uh, the above, uh, to you.

Um, um, yeah, you know, just keep us, keep us posted here at the PWD Allies.

And, and so Rob Butterill was fighting for that.

Mm-hmm.

Uh, and, and then, uh, you know, uh, Brent and Sonia went to this big announcement, this big media release, and, and you know, we, we had the, uh, the minist- the Ministry of So- Social Development here.

Um, you know, Sheila Malcolmson was all proud about it.

But she had, she had lots of good ones.

And I think Jeff's right, like, in the past elections, I think, um, the leaders' debate has really hel- really helped Sonia Furstenau secure her seat, and I think that, um, voters in Saanich North and the Islands will feel, um, more confident and proud to vote for her-

Mm

... um, based on that performance.

And the Green voter, um, usually likes the leader, but they really start to drop in the final stages of the campaign.

We saw that with Sonia Furstenau where, you know, people were happy that she had a great debate, and it's so nice to have a third voice that is different from the center right and the center left option.

Uh, but they didn't get the results that they hoped for.

Uh, they had fewer votes than in the election of 2020.

Right.

Because I know that in p- in the legislature, former leader Sonia Furstenau did an amazing job, and I know that my MLA, I'm going, right after I talk to you, I'm going to Squamish, BC, to go campaign for Jeremy Vollering, who is the MLA there in Sea to Sky Country.

We have a track record of doing good things for BC without ever having formed government.

But because we work well with others and we're prepared to work where we can agree, we'll work with them.

The party has fielded 36 candidates, and Sturco outlined a pledge to expand manufacturing support by doubling the existing manufacturing jobs fund and CenterBC allocation to $60 million annually.

B.C. Green leader Sonia Furstenau put forward a platform that includes free transit passes for riders under 25 and those over 65, broader passenger rail and ferry services, rail corridor preservation, locally built and maintained ferries, and support for unionized workers.

First to Now contended the province already controls the rail, corridors, and ferry capacity needed, though both networks have received inconsistent and insufficient funding over time.

Political science lecturer Stuart Prest of the University of British Columbia's Department of Political Science offered the view that the contest may hinge on voter dissatisfaction with the NDP's record, with some electors potentially drawn toward an untested alternative over a governing party whose tenure has generated its own grievances.

Ever since it, it collapsed down to just that one last riding here on the South Island.

I know Sonia Furstenau had Cowichan Valley.

There's been speculation as to whether or not the Greens could establish another beachhead here.

We saw, um, and y- I, I got trashed [chuckles] for this, by the way.

The only reason that I bring it up now is because the prospect of the Greens taking a riding four years ago, or even three years ago in 2023, was taken as being much more likely than it is now, and it's because there's been some disappointments.

The other example of the Greens trying to take a riding, and I wasn't sure how it would work and whether or not it would work, to be honest, was two years ago in 2024.

Sonia Furstenau, uh, tried for Victoria-Beacon Hill.

Now, that's one of the most unassailable NDP ridings in the entire province.